Zephirien and James
by Deathnotebliss
Summary: He survives the horrible fall but is left with severe injuries and vague memories. What will happen when he returns back to the village two years later?
1. Chapter 1

(A/N:) "Just do it" and the Beauty and the Beast movie are my inspirations. ^ ^ Thank you Disney, and Mortal Anonymous for giving me these ideas. ^ ^ Don't like BoyXBoy, then please don't read. It won't get too graphic, but PLEASE don't flame me because you were too stupid to get into this story and not realize that there are gay guys in here. ... ... ... thank you. Did I mention that I won't tolerate flames? I think I did... O_o

Disclaimer: Don't own Disney's Beauty and the Beast. _ I would have made it more angsty if I did.

Summary: ... well, I guess you'll figure it out, eventually. ^ ^ Just know that in later chapters, there will be boy love.

**WARNING: _THERE WILL BE BOYS LOVE IN HERE. (later chapters) THIS MEANS IF YOU DON'T LIKE TWO MEN FALLING IN LOVE, THEN PLEASE CLICK THAT LITTLE BACK BUTTON AT THE TOP OF YOUR BROWSER._** Thank you for understanding. If you flame me, I swear to GOD I'll track you down and rip your throat out. Have a nice read. ^ ^

All he could remember was falling.

Falling.

and falling.

and falling.

'I didn't think it would end this way.' He thought, 'This is it.' Then he closed his eyes, preparing himself for the end.

-

-

Now it was warm. Surprisingly still. Quiet. He saw a warm aura of orange through his eyelids and the smell of lilies and chamomile. 'So warm' he thought as he lost conciousness. The smell of lily and chamomile still lingering in his deepest subconcious.

-

He took in a deep breath and barely opened his eyes to see a small room of brown hughes. Closing his eyes, he took in another shakey breath filled with the scent of chamomile and lily. Confused, he opened his eyes wider and saw in his periferal vision a wall right next to the cot he was laying on, and to the right the small room accomodated some household things, a table, chairs and an open stove with a roaring fire inside warming the room. He tried turning his head to get a better clue as to where he was, but right when he did, his head protested with a massive headache. The pain was unimaginable, he winced, groaned, and tried to keep still, but the headache continued as strongly as before. He panted and broke into a sweat. 'Make the pain stop.' he pleaded in his mind. He tried to put his hand to his head, but he was wrapped up snugly in thick blankets.

'Make it stop.'

'Please.'

'I'll do anything.'

Memories came back in a flash. The rain. The lightning. The large beast. His grip on his neck. Dangling over the dark blackness below. He had begged him, but the beast let him fall anyway. He had let him fall.

He heard the rustling of leaves and a muffled voice. He couldn't hear exactly what came out under her muffled breath, but he still strained to listen. He suddenly gasped as he realised someone was touching his mouth, or were they holding something to his mouth?

"Shhhh, it's okay. Open your mouth. This will help the pain." the person coaxed gently. He opened up his mouth willingly and chewed the herbs and swallowed thickly. He felt his sweat drip down his face only to be wiped away by a damp cool cloth. He opened his mouth to pant and groan in pain as the woman then shuffled around the room before momentarily coming back to wipe the forehead of the stranger. That was the last he remembered before he passed out again.

-

He awoke to an old voice singing an folk song... it must be a woman who was taking care of him.

"Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre,  
mironton, mironton, mirontaine,  
Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre,  
Ne sait quand reviendra.

ll reviendra-z-a Paques,  
mironton, mironton, mirontaine,  
ll reviendra-z-a Paques, ou a la Trienite..."

He opened his eyes slowly careful not to move his head. He looked over at the silhouette of a short old woman. Her song was oddly comforting. He noticed his headache had left, but pain in his right leg replaced the pain of the headache. Probably since the headache had hurt worse, it overode the pain in his leg. He groaned and tried to lift himself up but was overcome with weakness.

"Oh my! Please don't try to sit up, lay back down. You need your rest." "No. Where am I? I need to get back home." he said out of breath.  
"You won't last out there with the injuries you have." she told him as she pushed him back down into the bed. It wasn't like he could fight back or anything. It was like all those years of working out had been for nothing, because he couldn't even sit up. He watched her face cautiously and succumed to her helping him. She had him halfway propped up by pillows and was now making a pot of tea. He was still dazed and confused. Questions buzzed around in his head, but he willed them to go away for fear of inducing another headache. The old woman turned around and walked to the cot with a pot of tea and cup. She slowly poured the tea into the cup and lifted it to his mouth. He tried to take the cup for himself, but his arms wouldn't move when he asked, so he accepted the help with the drink. "I've made this tea specially for you. It will help restore strength to your limbs and give you energy." He took another look at the tea then studied the face of the woman who had helped him. He wasn't sure where to start. He sighed.  
"Where am I?"  
"Thirty miles east of the castle." she paused to put down the tea and let it cool down a little before letting him drink. "We're right on the Lucoda River. That's where I found you." He felt his eyes drift shut slowly and his eyebrows knit in confusion. "Thirty miles east of the caste? What castle?"  
"Well, that's what it's called, now. It used to be called the old enchanted castle in the woods." He didn't remember anything about an enchanted castle. Dizzy with confusion, he felt himself get more and more tired. "Why are you doing this?" he panted out. "Why are you helping me?"  
"Because if I had left you where, you would have surely died." she said calmly grabing the teacup and lifting it to his lips. He took a small sip.  
"What happened?" he asked still staring at his bed.  
"I don't know, but I'm definitely curious to know." she said matter of factly, "You have suffered from serious injuries to your head and legs; mainly your right leg and you've been in a coma for the past month." "I've... been in... a coma?" he breathed out quietly.  
"You might have to re-learn how to walk again. You've just laid in the bed for a whole month, and with your injuries, I doubt you'll be able to completely recover."  
"I will recover." He said, "No matter what, I will recover from whatever happened to me."  
"I hope so." She softly smiled and lifted the cup to his lips once more before taking it back to the small kitchen. "Are you hungry? I've made soup. It's broccoli and potato." "No, I'm fine." His stomach gave a growl of disapproval. The old lady only chuckled and made her way over with the bowl of soup. She slowly lowered herself onto the side of the cot and placed the bowl in her lap. She hummed as she spoon fed her patient. Everything within him wanted to buck and protest against her help. He didn't feel like being helpless. His pride, however, forced him to keep quiet about everything and just take the help. Where would he be without this old woman? He felt like giving up and just diving right into dispair. He could never return to his village like this. The elderly lady noticed his forlorn expression and tried to get him talking again. There were questions that she wanted answered, too.  
"Do you remember what happened?"  
"I remember some. I ... I don't ... " he looked at his bed and frowned not recalling what happened at all. Then he remembered his flashback and shuttered.  
"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." She lifted another spoonful of the soup to his lips. While he ate, she asked another question. "What's your name?" She looked at him and paused before she fed him another spoonful.  
He hesitated, "I - I don't remember." He frowned and stared at the wall beside his cot.  
"You know, after your first week of your coma, I got frustrated not knowing who you were, so I named you Zephirien." He only stared at her. "It means "from the west" because you were brought by the waters from the west." she held up another spoonful of soup.  
"That's enough soup, I'm done." he kept his eyes on the wall ashamed that he had to be spoonfed by an elderly lady. He wanted to be alone, he wanted to sleep, but he wanted to ask the elderly lady more questions. "I- I'd like to sleep, now." He said to the wall.  
"Very well. I'm going to leave some herbs here for you to chew if you get a headache. Okay?" He nodded so she removed the pillows so he could lay flat on the cot.  
"Sleep well, Zephirien."  
He didn't hear her, he was already sleeping.

Please review and tell me what you think. ^ ^ all reviews are welcome. Except flames.... but what the heck would you have to flame from this? lol. It hasn't even gotten to the good parts. tee hee hee.


	2. Chapter 2

~Zephirien and James~

Hope you enjoy. ^ ^ ~Caroline

The old woman tended him slowly back to health. After two weeks, he was able to use his arms freely, and he could shift around in bed. This made things easier for the elderly lady, since she was well into her seventies. She was as optimistic as ever, though. She made sure to help keep him from diving into despair. From what he pieced together from his past, and from what she put together, he used to be very peculiar about his looks, and he was into all sorts of athletic activities. The elderly lady couldn't sympathize with the young man she had affectionately named Zephirien, but could faintly grasp onto what kinds of feelings he must be going through with having his mobility taken away from him at the current moment. She reflected on these things as she made breakfast for him. He was growing stronger every week since she had found him on the side of the river. If it wasn't for the other villagers who lived further off, she was sure she wouldn't have been able to help him at all. Rose had looked out her window that day two months ago and saw a young man laying face up his bottom half in the murky water, and his torso up on the bank of the river. She didn't know if he had dragged himself up on the bank then collapsed, or if it was the rise of the water. Either way, he had practically landed on her doorstep, so she took him in and nursed him back to health. Even though he was getting stronger, he still felt like he had failed. Like he had failed at being a man. She always tried to praise him and encourage him, but every once in a while he would still get that forlorn look on his face and seep into a depressed state.

She flipped the crepes she was cooking over. She had to make more, now since Zephirien was getting stronger, so now he could eat much more than at first, when he first awoke. When he wasn't eating, which was quite often, she would read and teach him about different herbs and spices. She looked back at her sleeping patient and wondered briefly why he had slept in so late, before turning back to the breakfast she was cooking. Setting aside the breakfast, she walked over to the sleeping young man and nudged him just a little. "Zephi, time to wake up. Breakfast will get cold if you lay in bed any longer." He responded with a low moan before slowly opening his eyes.

She turned back around to tend to the crepes. "Today we're going to work on building strength in those legs. How do they feel?"  
He grunted a response and she looked to see if he was getting up. He slowly lifted himself into a sitting position and massaged his bedsores. His hair was disheveled and his night shirt wasn't sitting right on his torso.  
"What's for breakfast, Vieille? I'm starving. I could eat a whole deer." The old woman chuckled at the nickname he had given her.  
"Crepes with eggs and milk." She turned back around to grab the plates full of food and hobbled over to the young man. They ate in comfortable silence until Zephirien broke the silence.  
"When do you think I'll be able to walk? I wanna go outside. If I have to crawl, that's fine with me, but I'm tired of being cooped up in this little room."  
"Maybe we can try, but first, leg exercises." She chided. He groaned and rolled his eyes. "I've been doing leg exercises for weeks! I want to try to walk outside for a bit and not just around this tiny room." He looked eagerly at his caretaker.  
"If you aren't patient, you could re-injure your leg, and we wouldn't want that, would we?" she said shaking her spoon at him.  
He shook his head.  
"Alright, then it's agreed, leg exercises." she put a spoonful in her mouth. He smiled and rolled his eyes.

He lifted his right leg and winced. They only said what was necessary, because she old woman knew that he didn't like anything about the exercises.  
"A little higher."  
Laying on his back, he tried lifting his leg a little higher. Wincing in pain he slowly lowered his leg. "Okay, now to work your back leg muscles, roll over and try to lift your right leg up as far as you can."

Once he was done with his daily routine, he pleaded once more to go outside. With a sigh she relented and told him to wait while she went outside to try to find a makeshift walking stick he could use.  
He waited patiently on the bed. He scooted and put his legs on the floor of the small two-room cottage. It had been at least fifteen minutes before the elderly woman came through the door with a large stick. He grabbed the stick greedily and slowly pulled himself up with great effort. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"  
"I feel like going outside." He beamed and took baby steps to the front door, eager to get outside and smell fresh air. The old woman made a move to open the door, but he stopped her. "I think I can do it by myself." He looked at her then reached out a hand and turned the knob. It swung open with a loud creak and the world outside opened up to him.

Bright rays of sunshine blinded him at first, but then he saw flowers, grass and trees. The smell was sensational; fresh and clean. He looked down and took a careful step out of the small cottage and onto the soft grass. He reminded himself to be careful because he was barefooted and looked around at the scenery. To the right, he saw the river flowing slowly; small leaves were being carried along it's wide channel. The wind blew softly and he followed its direction to the forest ahead and to his immediate left, a small path. "This is so great." He stepped forward and almost collapsed. He heard Vieille gasp behind him. "I'm okay. Can I have a chair to sit on? I don't want to leave just yet." He heard her go inside and grab a wooden chair from the small table in the house.  
"Ah, now all I need, is a rifle and those woods over there." He pointed out towards the woods in front of the cottage and sighed. 'Wait,' he thought excitedly, 'I can shoot and hunt!' He looked at the woman who was currently moving a chair for herself outside. "Vieille, I used to hunt!" he beamed and looked at the woods. "I used to be a great hunter, and I think I also knew archery, also." He said, a little amazed at himself. The old woman smiled while looking distantly at the woods. They talked for the rest of the afternoon until the sun went down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three months later...

After a while, the young man was able to walk with a cane without getting tired. The elderly woman watched on with fond eyes as the young man she had nursed back to health sitting by the river while watching the ducks float by. Over the period of time that he had stayed at her house, she taught him everything she knew about life in the woods, cooking, sewing, different plant species, and survival. She saw him grow not only in strength, but in knowledge and wisdom, also. Zephirien would soak up the knowledge he had learned and try to apply it to everything and anything. He figured that he had nothing else to do, so he learned and read what books she had on botany. She was truly amazed by how much he had changed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three months pass...

Zephirien sat in the tall grass by the river watching a heron and duck fly by. Truly it was a beautiful Autumn day. His thoughts wandered to his life before he fell. He was strong, he remembered and very vain. Zephirien's brow furrowed. He wondered what kind of childhood he had for him to turn out that way. He leaned forward and looked at his reflection in the river. This was the first time he had looked at his appearance, his face was long, and his long hair was tied back, but many strands hung loosely around his face. He almost looked like a stray, even though all along Vieille made sure he took his bath as often as he was supposed to, he still looked like he hadn't taken care of himself properly. His eyes were a soft blue and his hair was an ebony black. He remembered from his faint flashbacks looking in a large mirror and seeing something similar to his reflection in the water, but there was still a large difference in what he looked like before. He was extremely thin, now; almost underweight. His clothes hung loosely off his smaller frame and his cheeks sunk in slightly. He was also not smiling. In his memories he remembered always smiling and checking for any imperfections in the large mirror. He looked away from the reflection and sighed. He was almost a different person, now. Pride and vanity often held him back, sometimes, but he was always willing to help Vieille. There was a part of him that was ashamed that he was so thin and unsightly, but he willed those thoughts away. He was stronger and smarter, now. He had a better aim with his bow and arrow, now that he had patience in his hunting, but since he wasn't strong enough to drag a buck from the forest, he only hunted small game. He looked back at his reflection. He almost felt like there were two personalities inside him wanting to show themselves. He sighed, slowly got up and walked back to the cabin to get ready for dinner.

When he walked into the small cabin he greeted Vieille quietly without looking at her, and proceeded to fill a bowl with venison stew that she had cooked for dinner that night. "The ducks and geese are making their trip south for the winter."  
"Oh really?" came the small reply.  
Zephi turned around and looked at the empty table, and then to the bed where Vieille laid.  
"It's a little early to be turning in, are you not feeling well?"  
"Just a little tired. Pull up a chair and sit by me." Zephirien frowned but complied.  
"You've been getting more and more tired lately. You hardly go outside, now. You mostly just watch from the window if you want to look out. What's wrong, Vieille?"  
"I'm an 'old girl' remember? I'm not as young as I used to be. I still have time left, but my time is coming closer."  
"No... it's just the cold weather. We'll get it warmer in here. You'll be fine in no time." He got up and walked over to the stove and stoked the fire and within fifteen minutes, the room was ten degrees warmer. He sat back down and held Vieille's hand. "You'll feel better. I promise." She smiled warmly at him and closed her eyes to sleep.

-

-

It had been several months since that night and Vieille's condition continued to worsen. "Zephi, take me outside, I want to see the snow."  
The young man willed all of his strength to carry his friend. He picked her up and carried her outside to one of the two chairs sitting outside. After placing her softly in the chair, he went back inside to grab some blankets to cover her with. He then sat in his own chair to watch the snow flakes fall which were illuminated by the full moon. After a while of silence, Vieille asked to go back inside. Zephirien carried Vieille back to her cot and pulled the covers over her. He went back and shut the cottage door and turned to stoke the fire to warm the cottage once more. When he looked over to Vieille, she was sound asleep, her grey hair adorning her small face. For the first time, fear pricked his heart. "Goodnight, Vieille."

The next morning was a sorrowful one. He awoke. She did not.

Snow covered the frozen ground. His mind refused to stay in one spot. His one and only friend had passed. He didn't even get to say goodbye to her. He refused to listen to her. She warned him. She warned him that her time was coming soon.

He walked outside.

Why were the birds singing?

Why was there sunshine?

Why was it so beautiful on such a horrible day?

He tried digging a hole, but the ground was too frozen to dig anywhere deep enough for a proper buerial, so he built a fire and burned her body instead. He took her ashes and spread them all in the river. He didn't know what to say.

"Thank you. Thank you, for saving my life. For saving me physically and emotionally."

He watched as her ashes floated down the river.

-

-

The rest of the winter was spent in loneliness. He didn't remember eating or sleeping, but he supposed he did those things, because he was still able to function. He hunted when he needed food, and drank when he needed water. He only lived on what he could. He felt like he was just being and not living. He wasn't living. He was just existing.

Just an existence.

Very often, rage would coarse through him. He felt almost tempted to destroy the small cottage, but he wouldn't dare. It was Vieille's. To destroy it would be like destroying her. So, instead he would go out and hunt. Hunt to kill.

When spring came around, Zephirien decided that he was through living in the small cottage. It wasn't like living in the small cottage had brought back the horrible sadness of her death, but that the cottage wasn't his to live in. That the small house only belonged to someone like Vieille. It needed to be tended and taken care of by someone like Vieille. He felt like he was ready. He was ready to leave. Almost like a switch going off in his head. One day he woke up and left the small cottage.

Not sure where he was headed, the man named Zephirien made his way into the world unknown. Hopefully, to find answers about his past that still lay in a shroud of mystery.

(A/N:) I'm not going to rip your throat out if you review... LOL I mean... seriously... don't be scared to review. ^ ^ I'm really a nice person.

Truthfully, if you flame me, (which I doubt you'd do if you've read this second chapter) I probably wouldn't even give you any attention at all.

So, please review... I've had experience with my other account, I know how good it feels to get reviews. And if you read my story, then please say SOMETHING to let me know that you at least like it.

On another note... if you haven't figured out who the young man is in this story, it's Gaston. Even with his memories completely gone, he does seem VERY OOC. And I apologies for that. I HAD to change him. I can't work with a character like him... I find it hard and unreasonable... Plus, if falling off a cliff into dark waters and lying in a small cot in a coma for a month doesn't change you, I don't know what will.

I have a hard time writing about any character who is selfish and spoiled like a child. So I felt like almost dying would be a good enough wake-up call for Gaston.

and yes, there's going to be yaoi in here. I just haven't gotten to that part, yet. I had to let you (the reader) see the transformation, so you'd be able to read the rest of the story.

^ ^ I hope you enjoyed, I'll have the next installment in within a few days... (that is if will let me log in LOL)

Toodles ~Caroline


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N:) Don't own Beauty and the beast.... or a sixteenth century tavern, that's why it closely resembles a western sort of bar... :( it was the best I could do. ^ ^ Please enjoy.

Zephirien walked until he could feel his right leg acting up, so he set up camp and ate a small grouse he had shot with his bow and arrow a little while ago. After starting a campfire, he threw some leaves in to create smoke so the mosquitoes wouldn't bite. He took a deep breath and looked up. The stars were bright in the pitch black sky. He had been following the trail for two days, now. One more day, and he would reach the small village he had heard Vieille talk about when he had asked her where she got her supplies from.  
He looked down and sighed. He really missed her. She was the only friend he had, and she was taken away. He couldn't remember anybody else that he knew besides her. He had flashbacks every once in a while, but they mostly consisted of images of himself which made him even more frustrated. He often wondered if he had a wife, or children. What about his parents? Would they be worried? Friends? Did he even have anybody? Was he a loner? Where would they be if he did have people in his life before the fall?

The fall.

He had remembered the fall. It was etched into his memory. He dreamt about the moments before he fell. Sometimes the dream changed with each passing night, sometimes he had the same nightmare. He wasn't even sure what the truth was, anymore. In some of the dreams, he dangling over a huge crevice in the earth; the beast standing on the castle roof-top with a death grip on his neck. He would look back up and that's when the beast would let go. Other times, it was he, Zephirien who had lost his balance after stabbing the beast in the back with a knife. He wasn't sure what happened before he fell, or what made him want to go so far as to stab the beast-like creature, but he could distinctly remember falling; feeling his gut drop and thinking "This is it." before blacking out.

Zephirien opened his eyes not realizing that they had been closed. He looked around at the dark sky then over at the dying fire. He reached over and poked the glowing embers with a stick and added a few more sticks then stirred it once again. He looked through the fire to the other side of the road where he saw numerous fireflies glowing. He saw bats dart in and out of the blanket of darkenss feeding off the moths and fireflies. He laid down next to the fire and pulled the small blanket he had packed with him over his thin frame.  
"Goodnight, Vieille." He said quietly before he dozed off.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

It was early morning when he woke to several long low pitched howls. There was a pack of wolves approaching, so he quickly got packed and left before the wolves felt threatened by his being in their territory. He knew it was unsafe to sleep in the open in the middle of the woods, but he had no choice. Besides, he wouldn't have to spend another night in the woods any longer because he only had half of a day left of travel. Hopefully he would be sleeping in a warm cozy bed tonight away from mosquitoes and all the other woodland creatures. If not, he could always buy supplies and set up a makeshift camp outside the village. It would also depend on how long he decided to stay.

Zephirien wondered what he was going to do when he got there. "I guess I'll just get there when I get there." he said through his breath. Walking stick in hand, he finished his trek just when it had begun to get really dark. He looked around at the square through the trees as he closed in on the little town. Most of the lights were out in all of the buildings except one two-story building where he suddenly heard a roar of laughter. Curious he walked towards the building and read the sign hanging from the porch. "Tavern" He read before eyeing the door one more time. He turned the knob slowly and pushed open. Suddenly, everything got a lot quieter. Everyone turned to look at the stranger before resuming the loud commotion of card playing, smoking and drinking.  
He looked at the bar that lined the right side of the wall and took a seat and lowered his head. He felt really shy. He wasn't sure how to approach anybody. The bartender walked up to his end of the bar.  
"Can I get you anything, sir?"  
Zephirien looked up. "Er, I'll try some rum." Zephirien looked around until he spotted a thin young man sitting two seats town from him then looked back down at his hands. "You're not from around here, are you traveling through?  
Zephirien looked at the man, shocked. "Er, no- I mean, I'm not sure. I think I might stay for a little while." He tried a small smile, but it looked strained, so he looked down, instead.  
"Well, then. Welcome to Hanley Page. If you're looking for accomodations, we have several families who would be glad to rent out a room to you."  
"Thank you." He said quietly. The bartender nodded.  
"Here's your rum." Zephirien offered his thanks again and sipped on his drink slowly. The last thing he needed was to get drunk and then get thrown out of the town. He wasn't even sure how he handled his alcohol, so he sipped it slowly. He took another cautious look around the dark tavern. Candles were strewn about the room yet were hardly adequate enough lighting for the men in the corner who were playing cards. There were other men sitting about the room sitting either alone or with one other person quietly talking to themselves. There was the bartender who was drying glasses with a rag and one other person sitting two seats down from him him at the bar.  
Zephirien looked away. He was nervous. He wasn't sure why, either. 'I'm just not used to lots of other people, that's all. I need to suck it up and just talk to someone.' he thought as he fingered the droplets on the outside of his glass. He stole another quick look at the fellow sitting to the left of him. He had looked to the point of staring and the young man caught it and looked back. Zephirien diverted his eyes then seemed to find his glass highly interesting, again. He heard the young man sigh before getting up. 'Great,' he thought, 'I made him run away.' He wasn't even sure why he was so worried about it, but he was obviously having a hard time approaching or talking to anybody. Then he saw out of the corner of his eye that the young man had sat right next to him.  
"Sure is a chilly night." he only stared ahead and Zephirien nodded his head not sure if the younger could see him or not. "You're not from around here, where did you come from?"  
Zephirien frowned. He wasn't sure where to start. First of all, he wasn't even sure what village or town Vieille's cottage was in. Secondly, it wasn't even his home. Because he had lost his memories, he didn't know where had originally come from. Where did he come from? The stranger looked at his face and looked down at his own glass. "Didn't mean to pry, but travelers don't come through here, much. This town is practically on the edge of nowhere. You'd have to come out of your way to visit here if you were just traveling through. I was just wondering if you were staying for the night, or longer."  
Zephirien looked up and apologized. "You weren't prying I think people should be proud of where they come from. It's just that I don't really have a home." Zephirien took a small sip of rum.  
"Sometimes, home is just where you feel most comfortable. Like with your family."  
"I wish I had something like that." Zephirien said quietly trying to imagine what it would be like to have a family. Or if he had a family right now that was waiting for him to come home.  
"Me, too." The younger said. Zephirien looked at the young man. "Really?"  
"Yeah. I've been an orphan all my life, and I don't have a girl, either." "I used to have a home, I guess you would say," He looked back at his drink. "but that makes sense what you said about family. I lived with an elderly lady who died about two months ago. She was practically my best friend."  
"I'm sorry to hear that, if you don't mind telling me, what happened?"  
"She died in her sleep of old age." Zephirien said into his half empty glass.  
The younger man looked at him. "I'm sorry." He looked took a sip of whatever alcoholic beverage he was drinking then looked back at Zephirien. "So, why Hanley Page?"  
He looked up. "To find out about my past. I don't know who I am. I don't even know my real name. Vieille named me Zephirien after I lost my memories."  
The younger man raised his eyebrows a little in shock. "How did you lose your memories?"  
Zephirien shook his head. He only knew bits and pieces, and even then, he wasn't even sure if it was the truth or not. He was sure he could imagine his past just as much as he could remember. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to let people know that he survived an attempt on his life or whether he had stabbed a horrible beast before losing balance and falling to his death.  
"I'm sorry, I'm sticking my nose where it shouldn't, again." The young man smiled a little before motioning the bartender for another glass.  
"It's no problem. I just can't remember all of it, and what I can remember isn't pleasant." Zephirien offered a smile to brighten the mood a little. "I'm Zephirien." He held out his hand.  
"James." He offered his back and they shook.

They sat in an awkward silence until James spoke up. "Hey, do you even have a place to stay?"  
Zephirien looked up in surprise. He wasn't sure how many times he could be surprised by other people's thoughtfulness. You'd think he'd be used to it by now. "I don't have any place to stay."  
"I have a room up for rent if you'd like to stay. The fare is pretty reasonabile, why don't you come over and check it out?"  
"Sure, I'll check it out."  
"It's quite a walk, if you're okay with that. Do you need help carrying anything? We have a little walk on our hands."  
"I only have my pack." Zephirien pointed to the pack beside his stool. James eyed it and looked up at him again. 'Sure is a small pack,' he thought. 'Oh well." He straightened up in his seat. "Well, let's go, then. I'm kinda tired and I want to get to the house, soon. I've got work tomorrow." Zephirien threw the pack over his shoulder and picked up the cane. "You sure you don't want me to carry that?"  
"I'm fine."  
James looked at Zephirien closely in the full moon's light. "So, Zephirien, do you have a nickname?"  
"Vieille used to call me 'Zephi' for short, but it was more of an affectionate term." It was just dark enough so that James wasn't able to see him blush.  
"Yeah, I agree. How about Zeph?" Zephirien smiled. "Sure. Sounds okay." He looked down the road they were walking down. "How much further until we reach your house?"  
"It's just around this next bend in the road."

James and Zephirien walked into the dark cabin. James closed the door then lit a couple of candles. "This is the living room, it isn't much, but it's enough for a bachelor." James chuckled then walked towards the stairs that led to the bedrooms and opened the door to the left. "This is your room. My room is right there." He pointed to the door on the other end of the short hallway. "Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything." With that, James left Zephirien left the door slightly ajar and went into his own room.

Zephirien looked around at the dark room. Moonbeams poured through the window at the far end of the room. The bed appeared to be comfortable with it's blue and white blankets, but that had yet to be tested. A chest sat at the edge of the bed. Zephirien walked over to it and looked inside. There were several quilts folded neatly inside. The dresser sat to the right of the bed, and there was a small closet behind him. He put his things in the small closet while pulling off some of his clothes and folding them neatly back into his pack.

He sat on the edge of the bed for a bit. He was a little caught up in what happened. James seemed almost too willing to recieve him into his home. Was that unusual behavior? Zephirien wasn't even sure, because he had never socialized with anyone besides Vieille. Zephirien made a mental note to keep a close eye on James. He seemed a little suspicious. Something just wasn't in the right place.

He yawned.

'I might as well think about this tomorrow. I'm too tired to think.' Zephirien pulled back the covers and tried to get comfortable in the new bed. After quite a while of restless thinking, Zephirien finally sank into a light slumber.

(A/N:) Okay, now we're introducing James into the story. Don't worry, you'll get to know him later, it's just that Zephirien is too tired for pleasantries to really get to know James before spending the night at his house.

O_O whoops that sounded a little perverted. ^ ^ hee hee. UGH.... anyways, no love yet, people. There won't be fluff until WAY later,... and I might venture to do a Lemon ;) maybe... if you review... .... OH SPEAKING OF REVIEWS... WHERE ARE THEY? I KNOW you people are reading, WHY aren't you reviewing???? SERIOUSLY??? Is this NORMAL?

ha ha ha.... I'd really appreciate reviews. I really would. I wasn't kidding when I said reviews make me post chapters much faster

How about this: Review, and there will be cake.

See that little green button? Push it and tell me what you think, and there will be cake, strawberries, whipped cream and L for all. ...

Wait, did I just make a Death Note joke?? _


	4. Chapter 4

*Don't own it*

Please review. That's all I ask. ^ ^

There were people surrounding him, giving him praise. In his hand he held a pair of antlers that had been mounted. He looked up past the crowd and saw a beautiful girl. He pushed past the crowd to get to her when was got closer, she seemed like she didn't want to talk to him at all, but he persisted. He wanted her as his wife, but she kept on walking away from him. Then suddenly he was riding on his horse through the woods. Rage filled his heart as he got closer to his destination. That beast had taken her; he had taken Belle.

Zephirien normally wasn't the type of person to wake up and not know where he was, but coming out of his deep sleep, he thought he heard Vieille making breakfast at the stove. "Ah, Vieille's cooking. It feels like I haven't had her breakfast in forever." He opened his eyes quickly and pulled back the coarse covers. He was ready to get up and taste her great food, but his senses were overloaded with unfamiliar sights and smells. First of all the room wasn't the murky brown of Vieille's cottage, it was pasty white. Light streamed in through the window to his right blinding him momentarily before his eyes could adjust to the room.

Painful memories from the past few months flooded his brain when he sat up slowly, feeling a little dizzy. It was as if he was going through her loss all over again. Loneliness and misery swept over him "Oh God," he whispered. She was really gone. It wasn't a bad dream that he would wake up from. His only friend was really gone.

He shook his head. He didn't want to wollow in depression, so he cleared his thoughts, lowered his feet to the floor, rubbed his face and looked over at the door. "That's right, I was able to get a room for the night." He thought as he closed his eyes. He thought about his memories. Nothing about the village had seemed familiar, but then again, it was dark. Maybe if he saw the village again it would spark memories. "That is if I've visited here before. I'm not even sure if I have or not." Zephirien stood up slowly, walked over to the closet and pulled his clothes out of his small pack and started to dress.

Zephirien paused from pulling his shirt over his head. "Did I dream about something last night?" He thought as he pulled his shirt over his head. "Something about hunting, and a girl." He shook his head and continued to get dressed when he heard pots clanging and smelt smoke.

He hoped everything was okay downstairs, so he quickly made his way out of his rented room, and down the steep stairs to the first floor of the cabin. "Er, James?" he called heard coughing, "In the kitchen, Zeph."Zephirien raised his eyebrows slightly. James didn't seem to forget the nickname he had given to Zephirien, and in a weird kind of way, He liked how it had added a personal touch to his name. He walked through the livingroom to the kitchen area and that's when the smoke hit him.

Through the thick black smoke Zephirien saw James fanning the air with his hand while trying to run pans from the stove to the sink that was being filled with cool water from the pump. He stifled the urge to cough. "What happened?" James was still coughing and trying to get the pots and pans to the now full sink. He hadn't heard the question that Zephirien had called out. James coughed once more before backing away and standing beside Zephirien, both of them were now gazing at the damage. The walls were a little black from smoke, and the floor was covered with water. James had put the flaming toast out with several cups of water and most of it had ended up on the floor.  
James was still trying to figure out how it caught fire in the first place when Zephirien repeated his question.  
"What happened?"  
James blushed. "Well, I don't really rent out my spare room often, and I kinda wanted to make breakfast for you, but-"  
"-but it caught on fire?"  
"No." James paused and thought about what he had just said, "Well, yes. It caught on fire." He said defeatedly. "I don't know what we're going to eat for breakfast, now. I've ruined the bread."  
"What were you trying to make?" "Toast."  
Zephirien looked at James in disbelief.  
"What?" James put his hands in the air. "Don't look at me like that! Nobody ever taught me how to cook, okay? It's not my fault!."  
"How do you eat, then?"  
"I either eat dinner with other families, or I buy something from the bakery." James admited.  
Zephirien chuckled and walked over to the burnt pots in the sink. James stared at the taller man. He turned his head and looked at James. "You know, I can make really good crepes. If you have eggs, flower, milk, and maybe some fruit I can make some for breakfast." James gathered all of Zephirien's needed ingredients then placed them on the table next to the stove.  
"Good." Zephirien started by placing a clean pan on the stove, then opened the door in the bottom of the black box to stoke the fire underneath. He went back to the pan to make sure it was hot enough before mixing the ingredients. James opened the back door of his cottage to air out the house of smoke, then sat at the table

James watched in facination as Zephirien flipped the crepes in silence. Once he had made enough for the two of them to eat, Zephirien filled them with crushed blueberries and sugar.  
They both sat down at a table in the corner of the kitchen and ate their crepes. James thanked him for the meal and told him that it was delicious before asking him about his accomodations.  
"How did you sleep last night? Was the bed comfortable?"  
"I slept well, thank you." Zephirien nodded as he took another crepe from the plate and took a bite.  
"Good. And hey, don't worry about payment for today. The first night is on me." "Actually," Zephirien said with his mouth slightly full, "I have been meaning to talk to you about that." He swallowed. "I don't have enough money for a room."  
"Oh? I'm sure we could work something out." Zephirien nodded in agreement. "Let's see." James thought outloud. "I guess I do need things done around here." Zephirien nodded and looked at the nearly destoyed kitchen. "I also need some work done around the outside of the house, if you're up for it."  
"Deal."  
"Great." James smiled. "How long do you plan to stay in town, anyways?" He asked casually.  
Zephirien looked out the open door that faced what looked to be the back yard of the cabin. "I'm not sure. Maybe a few months."  
James smiled. "Well good, but watch out, now. This village can grow on you. I remember when I came here six months ago, I was sure that I was only going to stay a few weeks, but those weeks had turned into months." "I'll take that into consideration." Zephirien smiled.  
James sighed and clapped his hands. "Zeph, the breakfast was great. Thank you for that, again, that meal was better than most I've had in months. I'd absolutely love to stay, but I've got to leave for work in a few minutes. Now, if you'd like to come with me to the village and have a look around, you are more than welcome. If you want to stay here and just rest, you are also welcome to that, too." James opened his arms wide, "Whatever you want to do is fine, I just figured if you'd like to look around the village a little, you could."  
"I'll go with you."  
"Alright," James slid out of his chair and walked into the livingroom. "All I have to do is grab some things, and I'm ready to leave when you are." He said as he jogged up the stairs.  
"I'm ready to go."  
James jogged back down the stairs after grabbing his bag, "Let's go, then."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Z&J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The walk to town was much different than the trip he had made with James to get to the cabin. The sun warmed and illuminated everything in its path, the birds were singing and the bumble bees were hard at work collecting pollen. Zephirien marveled at the stark contrast to his journey the night before which was dark, cool and quiet. He tried to clue in on the landscape to see if it would trigger any memory, but nothing came to him, so he put his memories at the back of his mind so he could pay attention to what James was talking about.

"-and I swore that was the last time I'd ever get a mug stuck on my face. I've tried to stay away from mugs ever since." Zephirien laughed. "So I take it you're a very clumsy person."  
James looked him quickly knitting his eyebrows. "I'm not VERY clumsy," He crossed his arms and looked away, "inanimate objects are out to get me, that's all." Zephirien chuckled as he thought about being in the bar the previous night. How James had willingly approached him and offered him, a stranger, into his home without further thought. Zephirien liked James. He seemed like a really nice guy, but was there such thing as 'too nice'? Zephirien eyed the smaller man while they walked. James looked at him and smiled.  
"James,"  
"Yes?"  
"Why did you approach me at the bar?"  
James didn't speak for a moment. "Well, you looked like you felt out of place, like you were lost. I thought I'd offer my help if you wanted it." James smiled then looked ahead down the winding dirt road. "Actually, you remind me of a friend of mine who passed away."  
Zephirien showed no emotion and glanced at James.  
"Who is he?" He asked quietly. James looked up at Zephirien before smiling again.  
"Gaston was my best friend. We went everywhere together. I'll admit, now that I look back on it, he was a little bossy," James smiled, "but I was still his right-hand man."  
"What happened? You keep using the past tense."  
"He passed away." Zephirien's eyes widened slightly as he heard this. "There's a huge chance that people think that I'm dead right now," he thought as he studied the ground. "And, I remind you of him?" Zephirien asked casually trying to sound indifferent.  
"Well," James looked at him, "in the face you do, but not in the body build." James looked at Zephirien's right leg. "He didn't have a leg injury, either. I'd say you're about as tall as him, but I don't think his hair was as coarse, and he had worked out and hunted constantly. He had huge muscles" James started smiling again, "He could do anything, shoot anything, or have any girl he wanted. He was very confident and sometimes a little cocky. " He chuckled. "But God forbid you ever go against him or threaten his masculinity." His smile diminished and was replaced with a sigh of regret.  
Zephirien refused to push the smaller man any further, so he looked forward and kept walking. He remembered looking in the mirror and seeing something like that image; hair slicked back into a ponytail, large muscles, a cocky grin adorning his own face as he gazed at himself. He didn't remember James, though. He took another quick glance at James before looking at the side of the road. Being around James wasn't triggering any memories, either, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

They walked out from the shadow of the trees into the large circle of main shops. He saw several other buildings outside of the circle sitting here and there behind the central stores. There were only a few people who walked through the street and some who were standing in front of the shops talking with their friends.  
"I work over there." James pointed to a building on the other side of the circle. "It's the village wood shop. If you need me, I'll be in there. Just ask for me and I'm sure they'll let you in the back." With that, James walked off.

Zephirien decided to start at the shop to the left of him. As he came around to the front of the shop, he walked past the windows and slowed his pace as he glanced inside. It appeared to be a hardware store. Zephirien opened the door and walked inside looking at the different items that lined the walls and shelves. The elderly owner looked up from behind his counter and smiled warmly. "Welcome to my shop, if there's anything you need assistance with, please don't hesitate to ask."  
"Thank you," Zephirien said as he looked towards the counter, "I'm just looking."  
"That's fine, if you need anything, just ask."  
There were all sorts of tools for farming and keeping livestock. Zephirien often asked questions, glancing at the shop keeper as he did so, but he sensed that the owner was getting slightly annoyed by his questions since he was only looking and not buying. Zephirien left the shop without a word and started towards the next shop when he saw a couple of rockingchairs occupied by two elderly ladies. They glanced his way for a moment before returning back to whatever juicy gossip they were sharing with eachother. He passed by tall windows and tried to peer in, but was unable to see inside, so he continued to the door. He passed by the first woman who was rocking slowly in her chair. He nodded and made a small greeting to both of them before entering the shop.

It had seemed that he had walked into a book store. His eyes went from the rows and rows of books to the young gentleman behind the counter to the left of the store. Light streamed in through tall windows that lined both sides of the long shop. Zephirien took another glance at the shop keeper. He was obviously younger and shorter than Zephirien, and he had brown hair and eyes and was currently organizing stacks of books. He looked up and gave practically the same welcome the other elderly gentleman gave. "Hi, My name is Kelvin, if you need any assistance, I'll be here at the desk."  
Zephirien nodded, "Thanks."  
He felt as though he were breaking a spell with his heavy books thumping loudly on the hardwood floor. Not knowing he wasn't alone, As he was shocked when he passed by a group of three girls who looked up abruptly as soon as they saw him and giggled. Not finding the fact that he was the object of their attention very appealing, he soon found himself leaving the shop to cross the road to the next shop which looked to be a bakery. Zephirien casually walked across the road, cane in hand, to the shop that had baskets of bread and rolls in front.

Then the wonderful scent hit him.  
His mouth watered and his stomach growled as he looked at the treats that sat just on the other side of the window.  
Meanwhile, the girls from the book shop had peered out of the door of the book shop to watch the stranger walk into the bakery. When they saw him disappear into the shop, they decided to follow him.  
Once he had entered the shop, he looked at the baskets full of pasteries, loaves of regular, braided bread and bagels. He pulled out a few coins from his pocket and paid for a small strawberry filled pastery. He backed out through the open door, pastery in hand and turned around almost instantly running into the three girls who had followed him from the bookstore.  
"Hello, what's your name?" The brunett in the middle of the other two blondes giggled. The blondes smiled and waited for Zephirien to answer.  
He looked away with indifference. Maybe these girls would take a hint and just leave. "I just wanted to look around town alone. I'm not interested in company."  
He could see that he currently held the attention of the ladies on the porch across the street. They had stopped rocking and both whispered to eachother while keeping their eyes locked on the spectacle. "No doubt planning my wedding." he thought bitterly and sighed. His attention was brought back down to the girls who were talking to him. He hadn't paid attention to what they were saying.  
"Aw, are you shy?" One of the blondes teased as the other blonde suddenly grabbed his arm and he froze. She looked up at him and smiled it made him want to squirm out of her grasp but he stifled the urge and was about to ask that she let go before he suddenly heard heavy footsteps behind him.  
"Excuse me, what are you doing to my girlfriend?" Zephirien turned his head slowly.

"Great." he thought. Behind him stood obviously one of the girls' boyfriends. And he wasn't small, either. Zephirien sighed in exaspiration. "Whatever." He mumbled as he shrugged out of their grasp and started towards the wood shop. He had walked about five feet before the man laid a heavy hand on his shoulder. Zephirien heard one of the girls gasp. He turned around obviously irritated and stared at the man.  
"What?" "You did the wrong thing messing with my girl. You'd better leave this town before you find yourself wishing you never came here."  
Zephirien glared at the bigger man. "I don't take too kindly to threats. Especially when it's just over a misunderstanding. You should have a good long talk with your girlfriend who approached me and flirted with me. Maybe it's because you're a lousy boyfriend." "What did you just say to me?" "That's enough, Trent." Zephirien looked to his right to see a man around his age. He wore a disapproving expression and had his arms crossed, bow slung around his shoulder. "Save your energy for Tournament Week, okay?" The young man who Zephirien supposed to be Trent looked like he was about to yell at the man standing off to the side, but he bit his tongue and glared at Zephirien before turning on his heels and leaving. The man approached him slowly giving Zephirien a good chance to look at him. He was a little shorter than Zephirien but was more built. He looked like he had just come back from hunting, he had a quiver of arrows on his back, and in his right hand he held a bow. "Sorry about Trent, he's a little over enthusiastic about who's on top in this town."  
"It's fine. I guess that explains the temper." Putting his bow in his left hand, he held out his right and smiled. "I'm Alex. I'm the owner of the tavern here in Hanley Page." Zephirien shook his hand. "Zephirien. I'm renting a room from James." He pointed at the wood shop that was behind him. "Oh, yeah? It's about time ol' Lefou rented out that room. He's been advertising for months."  
"Lefou?"  
Alex raised his eyebrows. "Oh, you didn't know? People used to call him that before he moved here. He told us he wanted to be called by his real name, so we've called him James ever since." He laughed, "Sometimes we refer to him as Lefou when he's not around, it suits him so well. He really is a clutz. I mean, have you seen him do anything?" Zephirien smiled a little. "Yeah, he tried to cook me breakfast this morning."  
Alex pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's where the smoke was coming from. How bad was it?" Zephirien chuckled. "Small fire. Not too bad, but it was nice that he offered to make me breakfast for my first nights stay. So, you've gotta give him credit for that."  
Alex nodded his head then looked over his shoulder. "I've got to get back to the tavern. Well, it was nice to meet you, Zephirien. If anybody else gives you trouble, just tell them that they can take it up with me."  
"Appreciate it." They nodded goodbye, and Zephirien ate his pastery as he made his way to the wood shop.

~~~~~~~~Z&J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zephirien approached the wood shop. He pushed open the door and looked around the dusty interior. Wooden furniture was stacked in random places along the wall, and wooden toys were set on shelves in the window display. Zephirien heard loud banging in the back. "Hello? James?"  
"Coming!" Zephirien continued to look at the toys in the window display. He heard a loud thump and a quick "I'm okay."  
Zephirien walked over and looked behind the counter to see James starting to pick himself up. He could tell that James had been hard at work. Wood chips were everywhere on his clothes and in his hair and his worker's apron was tied securely around his waste.  
"Hey, Zeph. How did it go?"  
Zephirien looked at James bewildered. "Wai- Wha- Are you okay?"  
"Yeah. I'm fine." He smiled.  
Zephirien decided not to tell James about the confrontation. It was already over, and there was no use in worrying the young man, so he responded with a quick, "Okay." before looking at the puppet once more.  
"I made that."  
"Really? All by yourself? You did a really good job." Zephirien leaned in closer to the puppet, hardly believing someone as clumsy as James could make something so detailed.  
"Well, I had a little help from Griegory."  
"Your boss?"  
"Yeah."  
Zephirien nodded.  
"Want to take an early lunch?" James asked looking up from behind the counter. "My treat." He said with a smile. Zepherien looked up at James and he caught Zephirien smile a little before responding with a quiet "Sure."

~~~~~~~~~~~Z&J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zephirien noticed that there were still a few people in the bakery, but walking in with James made it much more tolerable. James walked ahead and spoke quietly with the baker before motioning to a few chairs in the corner where there weren't many people. The back wall was lined with rows of packaged bread and the left side of the store's wall consisted of a wall of windows. James sat down and motioned for Zephirien to sit down right across from him.  
"So," he turned back to James, "I hear there's some sort of tournament."  
"Yeah, there's different tournaments held on each of tournament week. It's a big deal, here. Almost all of the men compete. " James sighed.  
"Are you going to compete?" James laughed.  
"Yeah, I'm pretty okay with a bow and arrow. The archery tournament is pretty much the only one I compete in, but all the other tournaments I don't compete in. I'm not as strong, and most of the men can be pretty competitive."  
"What are the other competitions?" Zephirien questioned.  
"There's hunting, archery, wrestling, weight lifting, and the horse race. There's one tournament for each day." James said as the baker brought out two plates and set them on the small round table. Zephirien looked at the bread and looked at James. "Looks good, what is it?" "Braided almond bread. It tastes really good."  
Zephirien tore off a piece and popped it in his mouth. His eyes closed as he chewed slowly. "Yeah," he mumbled with his mouth full, "this is pretty good." He swallowed and leaned forward to take another piece into his mouth. He suddenly stopped chewing and looked out the window to see someone walking beside the window. Zephirien sat up in his chair and watched him enter the bakery.

The elderly gentleman walked hunched over to the counter to order what he wanted from the baker. He had a few tufts of white hair, a white scraggly beard, and small glasses perched on his long nose. Everything about the elderly gentleman seemed really familiar. James looked at Zephirien perplexed until he followed his line of sight to where the elderly gentleman stood ordering his food.  
"Oh, that's Mr. Epstein. He owns the book store here in our town." Zephirien tore his eyes away from the elderly man to James to resume their quiet snack only to find James calling the old man to their table.  
"Mr. Epstein!"  
"Hello, James. Who's your friend?" Zephirien looked up at the elder a little surprised at how he had moved over to their table so fast. The man's eyes grew a little bigger once he got a good look at who he was standing beside. "Er-" "Mr. Epstein, this is Zephirien, he's renting out my spare bedroom for a few months. Zeph, this is Mr. Allen Epstein." James introduced the two.  
"It's nice to meet you, Zephirien. My, that's quite a name you have there."  
Zephirien looked into his eyes before explaining. "I was named after the West." Mr. Epstein smiled.  
"So, you live here?" Zephirien questioned.  
"No, I live in the next country over." Zephirien raised his eyebrows as the elder clarified, "My town is just inside my country, and Hanley Page is just a few days travel outside of the border. So its not that bad of a distance to travel every once in a while." Zephirien nodded his head in comprehension. "So you own two book stores?"  
"Yes, I do own two shops, but I let Kelvin manage this shop for me since traveling can be such a burden on an old clunker like me." He chuckled.  
"So what made you make the trip this time?"  
"I'm here for Tournament Week. When I was your age, I used to compete in the tournaments. Now I just watch, but it's definitely worth seeing the competition." Zephirien smiled. "When is it being held?"  
"It's next week. There's plenty of time to register, Zephirien, if you're interested in competing." The elderly gentleman put a soft hand on his shoulder.  
"Why don't you eat with us, Mr. Epstein?" James piped up.  
"Aw, I wouldn't want to bother you two with my company, I was just about to run over to see how Kelvin is holding down the fort." He smiled and patted James's shoulder, "See you boys later."

"James, I think I'm going to register for the archery and hunting tournament." Zephirien said as he munched on his almond bread.  
James smiled. "Go for it."

My thanks to my reviewers:

girltechcoyote

Serenity74

blackrising

(A/N:) I await your reviews. I swear to you loyal readers, I read each of your reviews, and I tried my VERY HARDEST to keep everyone in character and to incorporate each of your ideas. I don't think you guys will realize HOW HARD I worked on this chapter. I really hope it showed.

I actually think that you'll see Zephirien act more in character in the next chapter, but I think I'm getting better. I hope you approve. If you don't, PLEASE tell me where I went wrong, and I will edit this chapter to better suit Gaston's personality.

I know you guys think he's out of character, but personally, I think if you've lost your memories and sustained a serious leg injury to where you can't be physical like you once were, and your physical appearance changed so drastically, SURE pride can go straight to hell. But that's my opinion. I really don't think he'd be all high and mighty anymore... _

I do think that he still has pride, but definitely not as much as he did. Anyways, I had to stop this chapter in such a weird place. It was getting SO LONG. O_O

Chapter five won't take as long, I promise.

Oh, Please review. Even if it's criticism, I don't mind. Just review. It makes me write faster, and it makes me happy. ^ ^

~Caroline~


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N): Review. It's all I ask.

~~~~~~~~~~Z&J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun which was rising slowly in the sky. The bright giver of light graciously showed the beauty around her. Birds were singing their light song of joy and the children were running through the streets laughing while the shoppers meandered through the streets.

All of this beauty was ignored by one man.

Suddenly, the bright rays of the sun was blocked by her. The silhouetted form gracefully moved out from the halo of the sun to speak to one of the street vendors who was sitting on the ground next to one of the shops with his fresh produce layed out on a blanket before him.

She was the only beauty he saw in that morning. He knew that she would look even more beautiful if she were draped on his arm fawning over his own good looks. They'd make the perfect couple. He was about to walk up to her when she suddenly pulled away and headed towards the small book store.  
He looked down at his sad excuse of a friend that, to him, was more of an admirer than anything else. His companion looked up at him with intense admiration in his eyes. "Loser." he thought as he rolled his eyes and started towards the book store to charm Belle.

~~~~~~~~Z&J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zephirien wiped the sweat off his forehead with his shirt that he had taken off and looked down at the ground that was just a little bit further away than what he would have liked. He threw his shirt off to the side as he looked at the work he did fixing the leaky roof. The wind picked up a little as he breathed in a sigh and looked over the thatched roof top he was standing on. He held four fingers up to the setting sun counting how many hours were left before the light would disappear below the horizon.

"Zephirien!"

He turned around and looked around a few seconds before he spotted James briskly walking towards him with a big smile on his face. Zephirien smiled a little and started to make his way down the ladder off the roof he had been working on.

"Hey James. How was work?"  
"It was good. I've actually got to talk to you about something, but it can wait." James looked up at the roof and squinted the bright rays out of his eyes before asking, "Did you fix the roof already?"  
Zephirien smiled, "Yep, took me about four hours to replace all of the splintered cedar shingles, but the hard work is going to be worth it. I made sure your roof will hold for at least thirty years of bad weather."  
James laughed, "You sound pretty confident."  
Zephirien cut a sardonic look at James before turning his back to him to get a good look at the roof. "Yep. That roof will last at least thirty years of horrible weather before you need to replace any of the cedar shingles." James looked at Zephririen's back as he was turned away from him, a drop of sweat ran down his bare torso and James looked away, a little ashamed.  
"Well, I think we should head inside." James said quickly.

Zephirien nodded, "Go on ahead, I'm going to clean up." James made a beeline to the cabin's entrance and didn't look back.

Zephirien ventured to the roof once more to get his tools, then once he put them away, he went to the side of the house where he was able to wash most the dirt and grime off his body. Once he was done, he walked through the back door through the kitchen and saw James standing there over the pot of boiling venison stew slowly stirring it with the wooden spoon.  
"This looks really great, Zeph. I almost can't believe a guy made this. It smells divine." Zephirien chuckled as he draped his slightly damp towel on the drying rack next to the fire.  
"I'll be right back, I need to get out of these clothes." He called as he jogged upstairs to change his clothes then came back down to see James sitting down at the small table beside the kitchen wall. Zephirien noticed that James had a bowl for him sitting at the spot across from him. Zephirien offered a small thanks, and slowly ate the soup he had cooked for the both of them.  
"So." James started and Zephirien looked up at him expectantly with his eyebrows raised. "There's an opening for a job at the wood shop if you're interested." Zephirien perked up. "Griegory, my boss, says that he'll see you before he makes the decision, but it's Griegory's. If you can saw a board in half then nail it together, he'll hire you." James chuckled. "He can train you on the rest. He only cares if you're a hard worker."  
Zephirien nodded his head and took another spoonful of stew. "Sounds great." he blew on the spoon before putting it in his mouth. "We should go tomorrow!" James said eagerly.  
"But you don't have to work tomorrow, right? What's the point in making an extra trip to town?" Zephirien said. "We might as well go the day after. That's when the archery tournament is, and we'll end up accomplishing both tasks in one day." Zephirien said while looking into his stew.  
"You're so smart, Zeph. I never would have thought of that." Zephirien smiled at this and pointed his spoon at James's full bowl of stew.  
"You'd better finish that or I'm going to eat it for you." James put his left arm around the rim of the bowl posessively.  
"There isn't a snowball's chance in hell you're getting a drop of this stew. I haven't had food this good in ages." Zephirien sat back in his chair and laughed as James continued. "Even if you made it, there's no way I'm letting you have my portion."  
Zephirien just continued to laugh and thought to himself that this was kind of a nice way to end a day of hard work; with company. He hadn't noticed how lonely he had become in those months after Vielle passed away.

The pang of sadness almost made Zephirien frown but he was suddenly brought out of his reverie when James started poking his spoon at Zephirien's own bowl of soup. He grabbed up his bowl before James could get any and held it away from him at arm's length plenty enough away for James to be out of reach. James laughed and went back to eating his own bowl of stew. Suddenly James gasped and looked down at his feet. Rodents weren't exactly a problem in his home, but every once in a while, a rat would get a little too brave for its own good and run inbetween James's legs. Which freaked the ever-lovin' daylights out of him. So when he felt whatever that was brush up against his foot, he scooted his chair back and pulled his feet up to meet his knees.

There was nothing on the floor or along the walls. The only thing James noticed was Zephirien sitting calmly across from him with two bowls; one of which he was pouring stew into the other. James jumped up. "Hey, that was my bowl! You tricked me!"

"You sleep too long, you lose." Zephirien said coolly with the slightest hint of a smirk on his face. "Besides, there's more in the kettle. I was just too lazy to get it myself."  
James snatched his empty bowl away from Zephirien and plodded over to the kettle and filled his bowl back up with stew all the while shooting glares at Zephirien. Zephirien didn't care, though. It was way too much fun to tease the smaller man. He had to. It felt almost inate within him to do so. Besides, the fact that James was so easy to pick on made it that much harder to resist.

The rest of the night was carried on with less horseplay and more casual conversation and laughter as the sun made it's last appearance for the day and paid a nice farewell by leaving pink and orange hues across the summer sky.

~~~~~~~~Z&J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Made some changes. I had read over the story... and I'm thoroughly satisfied. ^ ^ please review.

(A/N): Short short short. ... that's all I have to say about this chapter. I put some (lolz SOME) thought into this chapter... I figured it'd be a nice transition, and it could put a little bit of friendly flirting in there. AND it would put a little bit of Gaston's old side into Zephirien now that he's gotten comfortable with his surroundings. He's a little more in character now, I think. and it has a little bit of fluff. LOL Don't we all like at least a LITTLE fluff? sort of. well... this chapter was a bit more fluffy than usual... but compared to some fics, it's about as fluffy as a cactus. ... yeah. lol.

Too short for my tastes, but hey, what can you do when you're in college and it's pretty much taking up all of your time? Yeah. College. It's fun, but writing is kinda low on the priority list...

Grandparents are visiting tomorrow. I'm excited. I love old people. (except for when they're driving) O_O

Many thanks to Mortal Anonymous. ^ ^ You rock, Girlfriend. :D

Please review.

~Caroline~


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